1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates to the use of fertilizer enhancing compositions in agricultural applications. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to scale inhibitors used as fertilizer enhancing compositions, methods of monitoring such compositions, and seeds coated with such compositions.
2. Description of the Related Art
Fertilizers are materials or combinations of materials that are added to soil to improve the growth rate of plants, the health of plants, and/or the yield of plant fruits. Fertilizers are added to soils to enrich or replenish chemical nutrients in the soil that are vital to plant growth. A soil may be naturally lacking in a needed chemical nutrient or the deficiency may be due to the removal of chemicals by crops previously grown in that location. In either case, the use of fertilizer increases productivity, as measured by ratios, such as yield per acre or yield per man hour.
Generally, plants consume all nutrients from the soil, with the exception of carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen. Typical soil-based nutrients essential to plant growth include, but are not limited to, nitrogen, silicon, magnesium, oxides of iron and calcium, chlorides, sulfates, magnesia, phosphates, soda, and potash. These nutrients can be replenished in the soil by using certain fertilizers. In addition, secondary nutrients can be added to fertilizer compositions as required. Secondary nutrients include, but are not limited to, boron, copper, iron, manganese, molybdenum, zinc and magnesium.
It is estimated that approximately 20 percent of fertilizer added to soil becomes available to plants. For example, it is known that a major portion of phosphate fertilizers precipitate as insoluble inorganic salts, such as calcium phosphate, zinc phosphate, or salts of phosphate and other ions present in the soil. Thus, when phosphorus is added to the soil, it can form phosphate salts, which may also be referred to as non-labile phosphorus. This non-labile phosphorus is not useful to the plants and therefore, preventing formation of non-labile phosphorus is of great interest in the industry.